A tiny hand reaches for a brand new
stripy tie; wipes the tears his mother
cries and with a smile, waves goodbye …
until lunchtime. The homeward path she
treads, the two will never tread again.
A way of life taken for granted – set
to change. Gone, the little child with its
amusing turn of phrase. A myriad of words,
ripe to be culturally tamed – whose eyes
will fade to grey from purest blue.
No more those cloistered halls of playroom
and nursery, where monsters don't exist,
except on Doctor Who, of course. Why?
"Monsters aren’t real.” Mummy says.
He’ll become hard-wired to the world
of dictionaries and two-times tables – he
who calculated everything in, ‘How long
till tea-time?’ ‘When will it be Christmas?’
Her expectations will seek new heights, higher
than a well-recited nursery rhyme; one day
to realise, nothing he ever achieves will bring
as much delight as when he said her name
that first time. Tomorrow, when she wakes
at four a.m., at odds with a double bed –
struggling with those demons in her head, these
will be new demons she’ll be fighting. For each
‘hello’, is a ‘goodbye’ waiting in the wings.
“Who says demons aren’t real?” Mummy says.
Comments
shoebox | April 11, 2009 - 06:22
hard-wired. That's interesting. A foreboding? A "life can be tough" piece? seems well done to me.
Silver Spun Sand | April 11, 2009 - 08:33
Ta for that, shoebox:-)
Tina
_lynze_ | April 11, 2009 - 14:51
I like it, its good, I think it conveys very well the things that mothers tend to fear. I slightly disagree with the "life can be tough" comment, i think its more something that comes with growing up, not needing to be so dependant type thing. But it is very good.
-Lynze x
Silver Spun Sand | April 11, 2009 - 16:35
I agree with you, Lynne and that was what I had in mind when I wrote it - almost in a nutshell:-)
But I guess that's the thing about poetry, we each can put our own interpretation on it.
My thanks to you for reading and I am glad you go something from it.
Tina x
MistakenMagic | April 11, 2009 - 17:17
'He’ll become hard-wired to the world
of dictionaries and two-times tables – he
who calculated everything in, ‘How long
till tea-time?’ ‘When will it be Christmas?’'
- loved these lines Tina ;) Beautiful poem and although I don't think I'll be experiencing motherhood just yet I feel I can already identify with the characters!
Magic xxx
Dynamaso | April 12, 2009 - 00:28
"For each ‘hello’, is a ‘goodbye’ waiting in the wings. “Who says demons aren’t real?” Mummy says."
These lines end this superbly, I think. There is a melancholic thread running through this I like a lot although I have little understanding of what it really means to be a parent.
Nathan Bednarek | April 14, 2009 - 17:38
I also love the lines quoted by Magic. This poem is deliciously powerful.
Well done as always.
Nathan xox
Silver Spun Sand | April 21, 2009 - 18:41
Thanks for reading, Magic. Glad that it meant something to you, even though you obviously cannot identify with it. And again, you picked my favourite lines:-)
Tina xxx
Silver Spun Sand | April 21, 2009 - 18:42
I so appreciate your reading, even though you cannot personally identify with it ... as with Magic of course.
So pleased you enjoyed it.
Tina
Silver Spun Sand | April 21, 2009 - 18:43
Nathan - thanks for reading. I love your words, 'deliciously powerful'. You should use them in a poem:-)
Tina xxx